Course outline: The politics of the environment (ESS 112)
- Description:
ESS 112 will be presented in the Second Semester (Third Term) as part of the first year ESS course.
- Outcomes:
After completion of this section of the module you should be able to:
have a basic knowledge of the characteristics of environmental politics
analyse the environment as a political issue and distinct policy problem
evaluate the central ideas of green political thought, especially the core values of green theory and the ideology of ecologism
evaluate the environmental movement, e.g. provide a typology/taxonomy of environmental groups (including green political parties) and an analysis of their impact
evaluate governmental and corporate responses to environmental problems, e.g. international agreements and treaties to protect the ozone layer
apply what you have learned to South Africa
Contact with lecturer:
1
MsKhululiwe Ntombela, (Main Lecturer)
ARC, Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Room
DrRich Knight (ESS Co-ordinator)
5th Floor New Life Science Building
Telephone: 021 959 3781
Consultation times: TBA
1
3. Lecture times and venues:
There are three lectures plus one tutorial per week. Attendance is compulsory.
Group 1 / Group 2Monday (Lecture) Period 2 (C2)
Monday (Lecture) Period 4 (A3)
Wednesday (Lecture)Period 3 (SC4)
Friday (Tutorial) Period 4 GH2 / Tuesday (Lecture) Period 2 (OA)
Wednesday (Lecture) Period 2 (OC)
Friday (Lecture)Period 1 (SC3)
Friday (Tutorial) Period 4 GH2
Tutorials: Split into FOUR groups Friday 12h00 GH2
4. Assessment:
Essay Lessons from the Past (20%) / 8 September by 12:00 Hard Copies BCB 5th FloorManifesto (20%) / 21 September Electronic copies to 12:00
22 September Hard copies 12:00 at Tutorial Venue
Test MCQ (10%) / 15 September Period 4 GH2
Total = 50%
Exam = 50%
Weekly outline
Week / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Friday / Tutorial1
7-11 Aug / Period 2 (C2)
Introduction
Period 4 (A3)
Film: How many people can live on Planet Earth? / Period 2 (OA)
Introduction
/ Period 2 (OC)
Public holiday
Period 3 (SC4)
Public holiday / Period 1 (SC3)
Film: How many people can live on Planet Earth?
/ Period 4(GH2)EVERYONE
Did the Rapa Nuians commit an ecocide?
Exploring alternative opinions
2
14-18 Aug / Period 2 (C2)
Industrialisation, urbanisation and population growth
Period 4 (A3)
The basics of environmental politics / Period 2 (OA)
Industrialisation, urbanisation and population growth / Period 2 (OC)
The basics of environmental politics
Period 3 (SC4)
The environment as a policy problem / Period 1 (SC3)
The environment as a policy problem / Period 4 (GH2) EVERYONE
Register for tutorial class (Four Groups)
Discussion of Assignments
3
21-25 Aug / Period 2 (C2)
Environmental policy making at the domestic level – case study: waste management in SA and Germany
Period 4 (A3)
Politics & Environment in Polynesia
Anuta, Marshall Islands, Nauru
Analysis of three isolated Islands / Period 2 (OA)
Environmental policy making at the domestic level – case study: waste management in SA and Germany / Period 2 (OC)
Politics & Environment in Polynesia
Anuta, Marshall Islands, Nauru – three isolated Islands
Period 3 (SC4)
Water crisis in Western Cape / Period 1 (SC3)
Water crisis in Western Cape / Period 4(GH2)EVERYONE
Analysis of Easter Island
•Ecocide hypothesis: Overexploitation has environmental consequences.
•Rat outbreak hypothesis: Introduction of nonnative species has consequences.
•Drought hypothesis: Climate changes have environmental consequences for all inhabitants of an environment.
4 (29-31 Aug) / Period 2 (C2)
The green critique of our current economic and political order
Period 4 (A3)
Green political theory: the ideology of Ecologism / Period 2 (OA)
The green critique of our current economic and political order
/ Period 2 (OC)
Green political theory: the ideology of Ecologism
Period 3 (SC4)
Documentary: Wangari Maathai
/ Period 1 (SC3)
Documentary: Wangari Maathai
/ Period 4
Writing workshop
Group 1 GH2
Group 2 BCB 5th Floor
Group 3 D1 (Dentistry pre-clinical)
Group 4 Lab C Arts Faculty (GES)
5 (4-8 Sept) / Period 2 (C2)
Green movements and organisations/ TedX film on Environmental activism
Period 4 (A3)
Nuclear power in South Africa / Period 2 (OA)
Green movements and organisations/ TedX film on Environmental activism
/ Period 2 (OC)
Advancing Green politics
Period 3 (SC4)
Advancing Green politics / Period 1 (SC3)
Nuclear power in South Africa / Conceptualise election manifesto and divide work
Group 1 GH2
Group 2 BCB 5th Floor
Group 3 D1 (Dentistry pre-clinical)
Group 4 Lab C Arts Faculty (GES)
6 (11-15 Sept) / Period 2 (C2)
Environmental policy making at the international level – case study: Climate change
Period 4 (A3)
South Africa and environmental politics / Period 2 (OA)
Environmental policy making at the international level – case study: Climate change / Period 2 (OC)
Guest lecture: Land grabs
Period 3 (SC4)
Guest lecture: Land grabs / Period 1 (SC3)
South Africa and environmental politics / Period 4 (GH2)
EVERYONE
Class Test
7 (18-22 Sept) / Period 2 (C2)
Work on digital manifesto
Period 4 (A3)
Work on digital manifesto / Period 2 (OA)
Work on digital manifesto / Period 2 (OC)
Work on digital manifesto
Period 3 (SC4)
Work on digital manifesto / Period 1 (SC3)
Work on digital manifesto / Group Presentations
Group 1 GH2
Group 2 BCB 5th Floor
Group 3 D1 (Dentistry pre-clinical)
Group 4 Lab C Arts Faculty (GES)
Course Material:
Course reader
The course readings are in the form of a course reader that can be downloaded from
Lecture slides
The course readings are supplemented with the course slides that the lecturers use in the lectures. These slides will be uploaded to
Any other material, e.g. articles that the lecturers refer to in the class and that are not in the course reader will be uploaded to
Essay (20%)
Topic: “Lessons from History”
Submission date: 8 September by 12:00
Prepare a TYPED essay of no more than 2000 words summarising arguments and counter arguments that either A) The Rapanuians caused a pre-colonial ecological collapse through and monument building obsession (Diamond’s Ecocide Hypothesis) OR B) The Rapanuians were successful at adapting to a fragile and changing environment.
You need to review the following material for assignment 1 (loaded at
Jared Diamond’s Book Collapse: Chapter 2 Twilight at Easter
Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo Ecological Catastrophe and Collapse: The Myth of 'Ecocide' on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo Revisiting Rapa Nui (Easter Island) ‘‘Ecocide’’
What happened on Easter Island? (Summary)
Easter Island was settled by Polynesians between A.D. 800 and 1200. Some facts indicate that the island might have had human inhabitants as early at A.D. 400. When Europeans arrived in 1722, the native population was dying off. Evidence indicates, however, that the inhabitants once had a large, thriving civilization. Archaeological research provides evidence of ancient forests that disappeared and a society that collapsed.
Where is Easter Island?
Easter Island, also called Rapa Nui, is a small, volcanic island located in the South Pacific Ocean. It is remote and isolated. Easter Island is 3,200 km west of Chile, which has legal control over it, and is 2,000 km east of Pitcairn Island, the nearest island.
Easter Island is small, only about 400 km-2.
You could probably walk around the island in about a day. The island is triangular-shaped with three volcanic craters, one at each vertex.
The island is fairly desolate. There are no streams on the island, so the only fresh water comes from rainfall that pools in the volcanic craters. The vegetation on the island is mostly grass, and there are no forests.
Who settled Easter Island?
For a long time, where the first settlers came from was not known. Some thought that they sailed to the island from South America. However, archaeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg noted similarities in language, religions, and other cultural aspects between the islanders and other Polynesian cultures. Archaeologists concluded that Easter Island was settled by Polynesians sailing from the west sometime between A.D. 800 and 1200. Exactly when the colonists arrived is a point of disagreement among some archaeologists.
When did the Europeans arrive and what did they find?
Europeans first visited Easter Island in 1722.
On Easter Sunday in 1722, a Dutch sailing ship called the Arena arrived at Rapa Nui. The captain, Admiral Jacob Roggeveen, named the island Easter Island.
What the Europeans saw when they arrived was a relatively small population of about 3,000 people. The inhabitants lived in poor conditions such as ill-constructed huts or caves. They lived in groups or clans. The clans often fought among themselves for the scarce resources of the island. They had little food and were starving. In some instances, they resorted to cannibalism. The inhabitants of Easter Island were living in destitute conditions.
The Europeans saw something else that was truly astounding.
Easter Island had 887 large statues.
Scattered around the coastal part of the island, the Europeans found large all-stone statues of carved heads called moai. Some had eyes and some had large "hats" called top knots. Each statue was about 6 m high and weighed several tons. Some of the statues sat on large stone tables called ahu. The statues were all carved from stone tools in a quarry at one place on the island called Rano Raraku.
Given the state of the Easter Island inhabitants, the Europeans wondered who carved these immense statues and how they were moved from the quarry to the coast. Was there a more advanced society that lived on the island at some time? What happened to them?
Easter Island was different early on.
When modern archaeologists began investigating the mystery of Easter Island, they excavated dwellings and took core samples of soil in various regions. Although the trees on the island had mostly disappeared, they found large amounts of pollen grains deep within the core samples of soil. These grains were dated back thousands of years. These data indicated that Easter Island was once covered with dense forests.
These extinct Easter Island trees were a type of palm tree similar to the modern Chilean wine palm. The extinct trees were tall and had thicker trunks than the Chilean wine palm.
A different picture of Easter Island was emerging.
Early Polynesians brought animals and plants.
By examining items found in excavations (charcoal, bones, and so forth), archaeologists concluded that the early Polynesian settlers sailed to Easter Island from the west. They brought with them animals, like chickens and rats (either for food or as stowaways). They brought plants for agriculture like taros and yams.
When they arrived, Easter Island had lush forests. But the island had few indigenous animals, except for a few species of native lizards. The climate was hot and humid, and fresh water was scarce. They set about building a colony by clearing fields for agriculture, probably using slash-and-burn techniques. The food that grew the best and easiest was the sweet potato. The inhabitants pursued their religious practices, which included carving moai.
The Easter Island inhabitants carved the moai.
As part of their religion and culture, the early inhabitants of Easter Island quarried stone and carved the moai using stone tools. But how did they move them? Archaeologists propose that they moved the heavy statues on wooden skids. With more than 800 moai on the island, a lot of trees were used to move the statues.
The Easter Islanders consumed their major resource, palm trees, in other ways as well. The large amounts of charcoal in the excavation cores indicated that there were many fires for cooking and for clearing the land for farming. The islanders would also have used wood for building houses. The cost of habitation of Easter Island was deforestation Opens in modal popup window.
Did Easter Islanders commit "ecocide"?
In 1995, physiologist Jared Diamond proposed that the Easter Island population grew and overexploited the forests with its activities. The disappearance of the forests led to soil erosion, diminished farming, and food scarcity. The society collapsed into starvation and fought clan wars because of scarce resources. Diamond said that the islanders committed ecocide and touted Easter Island as an example of modern environmental problems.
The predominant aspects in Diamond's ecocide hypothesis describe how a small group of colonists arrived on Easter Island around A.D. 800, the population grew and exploited the forest, and deforestation began after A.D. 1200. For Diamond's hypothesis to work, two assumptions must hold true. First, the signs of human activity should have predated, not coincided with, those of deforestation. Also, the population of Easter Island would have to have been about 15,000, but archaeologists estimate that the population was about 7,000 at its peak.
Perhaps something else caused Easter Island deforestation?
In 2004, archaeologist Terry Hunt began constructing a different time line and formulating an alternative hypothesis. He examined charcoals in core samples and found that they were about 800 years old. He concluded that the time of colonization was about A.D. 1200. Hunt's proposed date was consistent with Polynesian settlements of other islands. Archaeologists also found that signs of deforestation coincided with human activity and the introduction of new species.
Did rats cause deforestation of Easter Island?
Many archaeologists have observed that the shells of palm tree seeds in cores and excavations show teeth marks from rats. Hunt suggested that the rats introduced to the island would have had no natural predators. The rat population would have grown and fed on the seeds of the palm trees. This idea was consistent with findings on other Polynesian islands. Eventually, the tree population would have declined due to the rats as well as human activity. Hunt based his hypothesis for the deforestation of Easter Island on the "rat outbreak."
Hunt proposed an alternative time line for Easter Island.
Hunt proposed a different time line:
1.The Polynesians arrive.
2.Humans begin farming, construction, and making moai. The population is 3,000.
3.Rats are introduced to the island. They feed on palm seeds, thereby reducing the tree population.
4.Combined human and rat activities lead to deforestation.
5.Deforestation leads to soil erosion, diminished crops, lack of food, and the collapse of society by 1722 when the Europeans arrive.
Did climate change lead to deforestation?
Although Hunt's rat outbreak hypothesis was not widely accepted, it remains a viable explanation for the events of Easter Island. In 2008, Daniel Man began examining core samples from Easter Island for evidence of climate change, particularly droughts. He examined core samples and dated pollen samples and charcoal within them. These dates correlated with the sediments and soil erosion dates. He concluded that a drought had just ended at about A.D. 1200 when he said the Polynesians arrived on Easter Island. He correlated evidence of burning with soil erosion and changes in weather patterns in the Pacific Ocean. He concluded that drought, changing weather patterns, and human activities led to deforestation and subsequent soil erosion. These events precipitated the collapse of the Easter Island society.
The case of Easter Island provides lessons about the environment.
We can learn several lessons from Easter Island as the hypotheses explaining the collapse of Easter Island society are still debated.
•Ecocide hypothesis: Overexploitation has environmental consequences.
•Rat outbreak hypothesis: Introduction of non-native species has consequences.
•Drought hypothesis: Climate changes have environmental consequences for all inhabitants of an environment.
The collapse of Easter Island's environment led to a collapse of its society.
When early Polynesians arrived on Easter Island, they found a remote island with limited resources in the form of large palm tree forests. When the Europeans arrived hundreds of years later, the environment was radically changed and the civilization was in decline. Scientists have proposed several different hypotheses to explain the deforestation of the island. The consequences of deforestation ultimately led to the decline of the human civilization there. Regardless of which hypothesis or hypotheses turns out to be correct, modern society can learn many lessons from the case of Easter Island.
How might the making of moai have led to the collapse of the forests on Easter Island?
The islanders cut down trees to transport the moai.
For the ecocide hypothesis to be correct, which of the following had to be true?
What signs of deforestation are there after the arrival of the first humans on the Island?
What conclusion can be drawn from the rat outbreak hypothesis for Easter Island?
The introduction of non-native species has environmental consequences.
Which of the following societal decisions might result from the ecocide hypothesis about Easter Island?
What policies and practices were put into place to manage resources wisely once ecological damage was done?